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Betty MacDonald, the author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series is beloved all over the world. Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews on CD and DVD!

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Betty MacDonald and the Queen

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,we are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter April will be one of the most popular ones with many Betty MacDonald fan club surprises.

It's Queen Elizabeth II's 90 th birthday today.( see article below )

Tell us the names of this mysterious couple please and you can win a very new Betty MacDonald documentary.

Betty
MacDonald fan Club honor member, artist and writer Letizia Mancino
shares her delightful story THE SECOND PARADISE. Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mary Holmes did such a great job in translating THE SECOND PARADISE.Thanks a million dearest Mary.We are really very grateful.

I'm one of Letizia
Maninco's many devoted fans.

Letizia Mancino sent this connecting piece to " The Second Paradise".

DEFIANT AS A COCK

Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
translated by Mary Holmes

All rights reserved

That
was how my friend Hilde Domin was, dear Betty! You would have liked her
so much. She had also been in America. At that time you were a famous
author but she was still unknown.

-Did she love cats like you do?

-Yes Betty, she sure did!! Otherwise how do you think she could have been a friend of mine?

-Oh Letizia, don’t boast! Hilde was famous!

-It’s all the same to me, Betty, whether a person is famous or not but that person must love animals

-Why was she as defiant as a cock?

-Well Betty, she was simply so!

-Like a pregnant woman in my “Egg and I”?

-No not so! Betty, Hilde was a whole farm!

- A farm, how was that?

- No Betty, Hilde was more! Almost a zoo! Even more. She was all the animals in the world!

-You loved her very much.

-As I love all animals.

You Betty, if I had known you, I would have loved you exactly so because you loved animals.

-But as defiant as a cock from my Bob-farm!

-Yes
and no! (Hilde really loved this double form of answer). Listen Betty ,
I’ll tell you a story about how Hilde was. You would certainly have
loved her. I’ll call my story “The Second Paradise”.

THE SECOND PARADISE

Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
translated by Mary Holmes

All rights reserved

The Lord God, one day, met Adam in Paradise and saw him lying under a palm.

And God spoke to him: Adam, my son, are you happy, are you content with Paradise ?

Adam answered: Oh Lord, it is wonderful!

And God said: But I will create a second Paradise and give you a wife.

Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful!

And God said: I will create the wife according to your wishes.

And Adam stood under the palm and thought hard.

And God said: Adam, are you ready?

Adam
answered: My wife should be as lively as a bird but she should not fly.
She should swim like a goldfish but not be a fish….. She should be as
playful as a cat but not catch mice….. She should be as busy as an ant
but not so small.

And God said: So shall she be: Like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant…

Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful, but she should be as faithful as a dog.

And God asked: Adam, have you finished?

Oh Lord, cried Adam. She should also be as delightful and gentle as a lamb and as defiant as a cock!

….She should be as curious as a monkey and as pampered as a lapdog.

And God said: So shall she be.

And Adam said: My wife should be as courageous as a lion and as headstrong as a goat…

And
God said: So, like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant, a dog, a lamb, a
cock, a monkey, a lapdog, a lion, a goat… and slowly and surely he
wished to begin creating…

But Adam stretched himself under the palm and called:

Lord, Lord, she should be as adaptable as a chameleon but not creep on four feet.

She should have sparkling eyes like, like… real diamonds. She should be as fiery as a volcano

But … she should have crystal-clear thoughts like a mountain spring.

God, the Almighty, was speechless…

And Adam spoke: Also she should be as quick as lightening…

And God said: Man, have you finished????

No, said Adam! She should be as strong as a horse, as long living as an elephant but as light as a butterfly!

Queen's 90th birthday: when is it and how will it be celebrated?

Queen Elizabeth II's 90th
birthday celebrations will be one of the highlights of 2016, and you
can play your part by following our guide to the festivities.Events will be taking place in April, May and June, some of
which are free and some of which require tickets, but the key is to plan
ahead if you want to participate.We have included links to websites where you can buy tickets
and where you can download forms for street parties. We will be
updating this page whenever new information is available.

The Queen with the Duke of Edinburgh at Trooping the Colour, the official celebration of her birthday

April 21st: The Queen's birthday

The Queen's 90th birthday is on April 21,
and while this will not be the main focus of the celebrations, there
will still be an opportunity to see the Queen for hardy royal-watchers.Her Majesty will be at Windsor Castle
when her birthday
comes around, and Buckingham Palace is expected to announce public
engagements in the Windsor area on the 21st and possibly the 20th.
Expect a royal walkabout where members of the public can see Her
Majesty close up - as long as they are prepared to turn up early to bag
the best places.Look out also for TV documentaries on the Queen's life by both ITV
and the BBC featuring interviews with senior members of the Royal
family. No dates have yet been announced.

May 12 to 15: The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebration

May represents the first of two major celebrations of the Queen's birthday. The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebration will be a 90-minute long extravaganza with 900 horses and more than 1,500 riders and performers.

It will be along similar lines to
the Diamond Jubilee horse pageant at Windsor in 2012, though this time
video projection and theatrical lighting will play a big part.The event will be held every evening from May 12 to 15, with the Queen attending on the final evening.All 25,000 tickets for the arena sold out soon after they went on
sale last November, but there is still a chance to take part by entering
a ballot, opening in February, for 5,000 free tickets to watch the show
on giant screens next to Windsor Castle and see celebrities arriving on
the red carpet. For details click here.If you miss out on tickets, ITV will be showing the final night in a two-hour live broadcast hosted by Ant and Dec.

June 10: Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral

A weekend of events to celebrate the
Queen's birthday and, unofficially, the Duke of Edinburgh's 95th
birthday, will start on June 10 with
a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral. The congregation will
be made up of invited guests only, but the service will be televised.
June 10 is also the Duke of Edinburgh's 95th birthday, but he has
specified that he does not want any public celebration of the date.

June 11: Trooping the Colour

Saturday, June 11 is the date of this year's
Trooping the Colour, the official annual celebration of the Queen's
birthday. Otherwise known as The Queen's Birthday Parade, it is a chance
for the Queen to inspect soldiers from the Household Division. It takes
place on Horse Guards Parade behind Whitehall, and is televised live by
the BBC from 10am.

Members of the Royal family appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after Trooping the Colour

The Queen and other members of
the Royal family travel to and from Buckingham Palace in carriages,
meaning there is ample opportunity to see her for anyone standing on The
Mall. She will then appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at 1pm
to watch a fly-past. This will be the only "balcony moment" of the
birthday celebrations and is another good chance for members of the
public to see the Queen, albeit from a distance.Tickets for the seated stands around Horse Guards are allocated by
ballot in March and cost £30. You can apply in writing before the end of
February to the Brigade Major, HQ Household Division by following the instructions in this link.A rehearsal usually takes place a week before the parade, and can be seen from The Mall or the edge of St James's Park.

The Queen will travel by carriage to Trooping the Colour

June 12: The Patron's Lunch

On Sunday, June 12, the climax of the Queen's
birthday celebrations, The Mall in London will be transformed into a
giant street party for The Patron's Lunch, with 10,000 guests eating a
picnic lunch and being entertained by street performers and circus acts.The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will take part in the event from a
specially-built platform on the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of
Buckingham Palace.

An artist's impression of The Patron's LunchCredit:
Patron's Lunch

The purpose of the event is to
celebrate the Queen's patronage of 600-plus charities and organisations,
and 9,000 of the 10,000 tickets are being made available to those
organisations.However, there will be some publicly available tickets for the event, costing £150 each.There are two ways of getting a ticket:1. Enter a public ballot where a minimum of 1,000 tickets (plus any
that are not taken up by the charities) will be made available. You can
make your application during the month of March at The Patron's Lunch website.2. Charities and other organisations that receive tickets will be
allowed to auction off 40 per cent of their tickets to raise money for
their funds. You can search a list of the organisations of which the
Queen is Patron here.

Members of the public will be able to watch the event on giant screens in Green Park and St James's Park Credit:
The Patron's Lunch

If you don't have a ticket, but
still want to be part of the event in London, there will be room for
15,000 people to watch the event on giant screens in St James's Park and
Green Park, though they will have to bring their own picnics. Security
will be tight, so arrive early.The event's organiser Peter Phillips, the Queen's grandson, is keen
for the event to be replicated with street parties up and down the
country and across the Commonwealth.You will need to tell your local council four to six weeks in
advance, and the Department for Communities and Local Government has
published a guide on how to organise a street party, complete with an application form for you to send off to your local authority.

About Me

Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.